Conventional technology pertaining to treatment of medical waste is described in the following US patent documents inter alia: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,078,924; 5,163,375; 5,240,187; 5,236,135; 5,271,892; 5,348,235; 5,362,443; 5,387,350; 5,401,444; 5,458,072; 5,508,004; 5,580,521; 5,639,031; 5,830,419; 5,833,922; 6,039,724; 6,113,854; 7,144,550; 7,718,120; 7,814,851; 7,815,851;
Hospitals and other facilities generate large amounts of medical waste daily. Existing techniques for treatment of medical waste are so unsatisfactory that some health facilities in first-world countries elect to convey only partially neutralized medical waste to poorly regulated third-world countries for disposal, thereby causing dangerous planet-wide pollution. Existing medical waste treating systems are characterized by one or more of the following: large size necessitating a facility located at a distance from the hospital or other waste-generating facility rather than within the hospital; failure to achieve adequate de-contamination; generation of large volumes of waste which are costly to dispose of due to high per-volume disposal costs; generation of a strong, unpleasant odor; requirement for distasteful manual handling e.g. to empty the system's chamber of processed waste which did not exit automatically.
ECODAS is an example of a conventional system that is said to sterilize Regulated Medical Waste (RMW), reduce its volume by 80%, and render its components unrecognizable, by shredding and direct pressurized heated steam all in one enclosed system achieving complete sterilization of infectious materials. The final treated waste is said to be harmless, unrecognizable, and safe for disposal, just like ordinary municipal waste. Shredding is followed by superheated steam (138° C./280° F.) under high pressure (3.8 bars/55 psi) which destroys all forms of microbial life.
The disclosures of all publications and patent documents mentioned in the specification, and of the publications and patent documents cited therein directly or indirectly, are hereby incorporated by reference.